Apparatus for use in cooling offal



June 7, 1938. A. o. LUNDELL 2,119,640 APPARATUS FOR USE IN COOLINGOFF'AL Filed March 8, 1937 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 'June 7, 1938.- A. o. LUNDELLAPPARATUS FOR USE IN COOLING OFFAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 193'?Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR USE IN COOLING OFFALAlvin O. Lundell, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Allbright-Nell (10.,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 8, 1937,Serial No. 129,621

10 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to apparatus for use in coolingoffal such for example, as head trimmings, snouts, ears, tongues,hearts, and sweetbreads. More particularly the invention relates to thattype of apparatus which is adapted for disposition in a cooling room ina,

slaughter or meat packing establishment and comprises a rack offrame-like design and a plurality of offal retaining pans which havedrain holes in the front corners thereof and are carried by the rack sothat they are disposed in vertically spaced relation and are alsoforwardly and downwardly inclined in order that the blood, slime, andother liquid substances which are associated with the offal run or flowdownwards over the pan bottoms and drain from the pans by way of theaforesaid holes.

One object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this typewhich is an improvement upon previously designed apparatus of the samegeneral character and for the same purpose by reason of the fact that itincludes simple and novel means whereby the drained substances from thepans, that is, the blood, slime, and other liquids which are dischargedfrom the pans via the holes in the front corners are deflected so thatthey do not drop from one pan into the subjacent pan or pans.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the lastmentioned character in which the pan fronts extend upwardly and inwardlyat approximately an angle of 45 with respect to the pan bottoms andconstitute the'defiector means for the drained substances.

3:5 A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of theaforementioned type and character which is generally of new and improvedconstruction and may be manufactured at a low and reasonable cost.

Other objects of the invention and the various advantages andcharacteristics of the present apparatus will be apparent from aconsideration of the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the several novel features which arehereinafter set forth and are more particularly defined by claims at theconclusion hereof.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification ordisclosure and in which like numerals of reference denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

. Figure 1 is a front view of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the rack offrame-like design carries the pans so that they are upwardly anddownwardly inclined in order to cause the blood, slime, and other liquidsubstances to flow downwards on the pan bottoms and drain through theholes in the front corners of the pans;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view through certain of the pans onthe rack, illustrating the manner in which the forwardly and inwardlyextending pan fronts serve to prevent the drain age from one panentering or dropping into the subjacent pan;

Figure 4 is a view partly in section and partly in front elevation,taken on the line 6-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of one of the blanks '15 which are used in theformation of the pans;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the pans;

Figure '7 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional View of the panof Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged diagrammatic view showing the use of thedeflector forming front walls of the pans.

The apparatus which is shown in the drawings constitutes the preferredembodiment of the invention. It is adapted for disposition in a coolingroom in a slaughter or meat packing establishment and consists of a rackand a set or plurality of pans 9. The rack comprises uprights I0, sidemembers H, and cross-members l2, and is designed to rest'upon the floorof the cooling room in which the apparatus is used. The up rights in arefour in number and are arranged in rectangular relation, that is, two infront and two in back. Floor engaging feet 13 are'fixed to the lowerends of the uprights. The side members II are in the form of angle ironbars and extend between the front and rear uprights. They serve toconnect and hold in spaced relation the upper and lower ends of theuprights and are riveted to radially extending ears 14 on collars 45.The collars, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, are mounted onthe uprights and are secured against vertical displacement relativelythereto by means of cross-bolts 6. The crossmembers, like the sidemembers H, are in the form of angle iron bars. They serve to space theuprights at one side of the rack from the uprights at the other side andare riveted at the ends thereof to ears H on the collars l5. The sideand cross-members at the bottom portion of the rack are spaced a smalldistance above the feet [3 and overlie a basin IS. The latter fitsbetween the lower ends of the uprights l0 and serves, as hereinafterdescribed, to catch. the

a 1 means for the offal during cooling or refrigera- 77 'tion of the,latteri They are formed from plate 'metal blanks of thetype that gisexhibit'ed or. shown" in Figure 5 of the drawings and comprise fl'atrectangular bottoms 24, sides 25, backs 26 and f rontsi'i. .The sides25extend upwardly-at right I angles to the pan bottoms andhave the uppermargins thereofbent outwardly and then' downwardly and inwardly to form.side flanges 28; The latter serve to reinforce the sides 25 and aredrainage or drippings from the pans.

portion of the basin projects forwardly of the two uprights at thefront-portion of the rack. A

, vertically extendingpipe I9 is? connected to; and

extends downwardly from, the central portion of the basin 18. This pipeconstitutes 'an'outlet or drain for thebasin and leads to a sewer ortank (not shown). In addition to the uprights, sidemembers andcrossrmem'bers, the rack comprises 'angle'bars 20- for supporting thepans 9 in vertically spaced relation between the uprights.

7 .These bars extend between the front uprights and the rear uprightsand'embody vertically eX- ,.tending. webs 2| and inwardly extending webs22.

" a Figure 3, are inclined in such manner that'the Theyare arranged inpairs and, as shown in front ends thereof are lower than their rearqends/ There is one pair of bars for each'pan a and the bars'of eachpair are disposed in opposed relation.

7 The front ends of the vertically ex- .tend ingwebs 2| of the anglebars 20 fit directly against and are welded to the frontuprights of therack and the rear ends of such bars fitagainst and are welded to therear uprights. 'The inwardly extending webs 22 are formed'integrally-with the bottom margins of the. vertically ex 1 'tending Webs 2|,andare designed to underlie .and support the side: portions of the panbottoms.

The-front ends of the inwardly extending webs 22 are bent upwards andform stops 23 for preventing forward sliding movement of the pans whenthe latter are disposed in their normal position, that is, when they aresupported or carried by the angle bars 20. The stops, as shown in Figure3, are arranged so that theyare substantially flush with the front partsof the uprights iii-of a r the rack.

The pansQ are adapted to be filled with offal such as head trimmings,'snouts, ears, tongues,

hearts and sweetbreads and serve as retaining adapted to fit against thevertically extending webs 2| of the anglebars' 20 when the pans aresupported in vertically spaced relation bythe angle bars of'the rack.The sides'are coextensive V with the'side margins of the pan bottoms andare cutaway at the front ends thereof; so that the .frontedges thereofextend upwardlyand inward- V they do not present sharp edges. V of thepans are the same in height as the sides 25. r 7 They arecoextensivewith the back margins of the ly at substantially an angle of 45? withrespect to the pan bottoms. The bottom 1 corners of the front ends ofthe sides are rounded. The front ends of the reinforcing side flanges 28terminate adjacent to the upper corners of the front endsof the sides 25and are rounded or beveled so that V pan bottoms 24 and are welded attheir ends to the adjacent o-r contiguous end edges of the'sides 25. Theupper margins of the pan backs 26 are bent outwardly and thendownwardly'and inward- 1y so as to form flanges 29. "I'l'iese flangesserve to reinforce the pan'b'acks'ZB and are-Weldedat the ends thereofto the contiguous ends of the side reinforcing flanges 28. The fronts 21of the pans extend upwardly and inwardly at substantially.

,The front The backs 26 2,119,640 7 right angles to the'pan bottoms andhave the upa a per margins thereof bent downwardly and outwardly andthen upwardly and inwardly to form' front reinforcing flanges 36. Theend margins of; the pan fronts lap and are welded to the angled frontedges of the sides 25 of the pan and the bottom margins of the pan,fronts arerounded conformably to the rounded lower. corners of saidfront ends of the 'pansidesand have a plurality of equidistantly spacedholes 3! therein. These holes, as shown in Figure'l, project downwardlyare substantially flush with the top faces'of the torn margins of thepan fronts .21 constitute the frontcorners of the pans. The ends of thefront reinforcing flanges 36 terminate adjacent toflthe and outwardlyand the bottom portions thereof pan bottoms. They are formed in the panblanks prior to'bending of the latter into pan form and permit theblood, slime, and other liquid sub stances which accompany or areassociated. with the offal to drain from the pans. The bot end edges ofthe pan fronts2'l, as shown in Figure 6. When the pans are mounted inplace-anthe rack, they are. held'by theangle bars 20 inverticallyspaced-relation and in a forwardly and downwardly inclined position andthe. front cor.- ners thereof are vertically aligned with; and abutagainst the stops 23, as shown in Figures 2 andB.

.In' this position of the pans the blood, slime and other liquidsubstances run or flow downwards over the pan bottoms .24 and drain fromthe pans by way of the holes 31. The fronts?! because of theirangularity serve as deflectors for the.

drainage or drippings, and as a result the'drainage,'instead of droppingfrom one paninto the subjacent pan, successively contacts and isdeflected by the pan fronts until it reaches the bottom of the rack,where it drops into the basin l8.

apparatus as a whole'is sanitary and the drainage 'Because of thedeflector action of the fronts the J or drippings from the offal of .one'pan' cannot contaminate the offal in any of the subjaoent' pans. Thecentral and upper portions of the pan fronts project or extendrearlwardly to such an I extent that there is no likelihood that thedrainage, which has a tendency to flow rearwardsia slight distancebefore dropping from the front corners of the pans,.will.enter the pans.

In using the apparatus the pans 9 are removed j from the rack and takenvto thelpoint in the slaughtering or meat packingqestablishment.

'Where trimming or cutting of the offal takes place.

After being filled with offal the pans are returned. r

to the rackin the cooling room and are slid into supported relation withthe angle bars 26.. While retained in the pans the offal is cooled andthe blood, slime, andnther liquid are'drained therefrom. As hereinbeforepointed out, .such sub stances run or flow down; the pan bottoms andthen drain from the pans'by way of the holes 3| basin I8. Ordinarily theoffal remains in the pans until it is chilled'to the desired extent. and

the liquid substances have all drained therefrom.

, r to and after'successively engaging the upwardly and inwardlyinclined pan fronts 21;}drop into the tively simple asfar. asconstruction or. design: is

concerned andis characterized by thefact that although the pans areretained in the rack in vertically spaced relation and :in' an inclinedr manner'for draining purposes, drainage'cannot", drop from one pan intothe pannext below." The apparatus is further characterized bythe fact'that the drainage, due to the deflecting action of I. a

, i If desired, the pans may be us'edforstoring offalaj i a The hereindescribed. apparatus is compara the pan fronts, does not come in contactwith any portion of the rack and hence cannot accumulate on the rack.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus adapted for use in cooling or storing offal andcomprising a rack, a plurality of offal retaining pans of like size andshape carried by the rack so that they are disposed in vertically spacedand aligned relation and inclined in one direction and having drainholes in the lower corners thereof, and means attached to the lowerportions of the pans and extending from one side of the pans to theother for deflecting the drainage so that it does not drop from one paninto a subjacent pan.

2. An apparatus adapted for use in cooling or storing offal andcomprising a rack, a plurality of offal retaining pans carried by therack so that they are disposed in vertically spaced relation andinclined in one direction and having drain holes in the lower cornersthereof and the wall forming parts above said holes extending upwardsand inwards to form deflectors whereby the drainage is precluded fromdropping from one pan into a subjacent pan.

3. An apparatus adapted for use in cooling or storing oifal andcomprising a rack, a plurality of offal retaining pans carried by therack so that they are disposed in vertically spaced relation andforwardly and downwardly inclined and having drain holes in the frontcorners thereof and their fronts inclined upwardly and inwardly at anangle of substantially 45 with respect to the pan bottoms so as to formdeflectors whereby the drainage is precluded from dropping from one paninto a subjacent pan.

4. An apparatus adapted for use in cooling or storing offal andcomprising a rack, a plurality of offal retaining pans carried by therack so that they are disposed in vertically spaced relation and areforwardly and downwardly inclined and having the bottom marginal partsof their fronts curved and provided with drain holes and the central andupper parts of said fronts extending inwardly and upwardly to formdeflectors whereby the drainage is precluded from dropping from one paninto a subjacent pan.

5. An apparatus adapted for use in cooling or storing offal andcomprising a rack, a plurality of offal retaining pans carried by therack so that they are disposed in vertically spaced relation and areforwardly and downwardly inclined, and having the lower marginal partsof their fronts rounded into substantially semicircular form andprovided with drain holes and the central and upper marginal parts ofsaid fronts extending upwards and inwards at substantially an angle of45 with respect to the pan bottoms to form deflectors whereby thedrainage is precluded from dropping from one pan into a subjacent pan. 7

6. As a new article of manufacture, an offal retaining pan adapted to beheld in a forwardly and downwardly inclined position beneath a similarlyconstructed pan, and having drain holes in the front corner thereof andits front extending upwardly and inwardly in order to deflect outwardsand downwards drainage from said simi larly constructed pan.

'7. As a new article of manufacture, an offal retaining pan adapted tobe held in a forwardly and downwardly inclined position beneath asimilarly constructed pan, and having drain holes in the lower margin ofits front and the central portion and upper margin of said frontextending upwardly and inwardly at approximately an angle of 45 withrespect to the pan bottom in order to deflect drainage from saidsimilarly constructed pan.

8. As a new article of manufacture, an offal retaining pan adapted to beretained at a forwardly and downwardly extending angle and comprising aflat-rectangular bottom, a pair of sides extending upwardly from theside margins of the bottom and provided with mitered front ends, and 'adeflector type front formed integrally with and extending upwardly andinwardly from the front margin of the pan bottom and having drain holesalong the bottom margin thereof'and its ends fitting against and securedto the mitered front ends of the sides.

9. As a new article of manufacture, an offal retaining pan adapted to beheld in a forwardly and downwardly inclined position and comprising arectangular bottom, a pair of sides extending upwardly from the sidemargins of the bottom and having the front ends thereof cut so that thefront edges extend upwardly and inwardly at substantially an angle of 45and their lower corners are rounded, and a deflector type frontextending upwardly and inwardly from the front margin of the pan bottomand having the bottom margin thereof provided with drain holes andcurved conformably to the curved lower corners of the front ends of thesides and their ends fitting against and secured to said front edges ofthe sides.

10. As a new article of manufacture, an offal retaining pan adapted tobe held in a forwardly and downwardly inclined position and comprising arectangular bottom, a pair of sides extending upwardly from the sidemargins of the bottom and provided with mitered front ends, and adeflector type front extending upwardly and inwardly from the frontmargin of the pan bottom and having drain holes along the bottom marginthereof and also having its ends fitting against and secured to themitered front ends of the side and its upper margin bent outwardly anddownwardly in order to form a reinforcing flange.

ALVIN O. LUNDELL.

